Shadow of the Moon: A Tale of Undying Love
by hatmanthehat
Summary: an AU wher Lori goes with Carl to witness the crisis point between Rick and Shane. note: my frend wrot dis an is publising it on my acont bcuz she dosent want to make her own its relly gud u shud red it NEXT CHAPITER HAS BEN ADDED WITH ROMANCE
1. Prologue

It was a windy day on the farm, one that reminded Lori that it could get cold even in Georgia. The thin tents that she was forced to huddle beneath provided only minimal shelter from the elements. She was reminded of the fact that winter was coming, whether they were prepared or not, and unless the Greene family decided to let them sleep inside the house, they would have to really bundle up. Lori ran a hand through her hair, which was knotted and tangled, full of dirt and grime. No matter how often she washed it, she never felt completely clean. Sometimes, she thought that Carol had the right idea in cutting it all off, but she felt like that would mean giving up another part of her old life; it would just be another confirmation that there was no hope of return.  
Lori threaded the last stitch into the shirt she was mending. She had found it in the back of one of the trucks on the highway. It looked to be about Carl's size, and she knew her boy would need the extra clothes. She didn't want to think about the fact that her son, only ten years old, was growing up in a world harsher than anything she could have imagined at that age. As she spoke, her precious little boy, sweet and innocent, was being taught to shoot by his father. She had finally agreed to let him learn, knowing that he was going to have to defend himself, but she still felt like teaching a ten year old boy to handle a gun was wrong.  
She meandered out of the tent, bringing her stack of shirts to Carol for washing. As she dropped them off, she spotted Andrea sitting on the top of the RV as usual, holding a rifle she probably didn't know how to use and tanning in the faint autumn sunlight.  
When Lori was a little girl, she used to envy all of her golden haired friends. There was always something different about the blondes; they were a little more spunky, funny, and popular than Lori ever was. She felt the same way about Andrea. Even though the woman had never done anything personally mean to Lori, she felt threatened by her presence. Andrea, the pretty one, the tough one that could handle defending the camp. She knew that all of the men had their eyes on her, whether they wanted to or not. How could they avoid being attracted to such a beautiful, strong woman?  
"You know, we could use some help down here," Lori suggested as she walked passed the RV. "There's a lot of work to be done." She had to shield her eyes from the sun just to look at Andrea while she sat on the roof, something that made Andrea seem rather pleased. She leaned forward a little on her chair, casually addressing Lori.  
"I am helping," she told her.  
"Sure, you're sitting there with a gun in your hand," Lori scoffed, "but the men have it under control. They don't need your help."  
Andrea stood up. "The men are all out in the woods, scouting or teaching your son to shoot," she pointed out. "They left me behind to make sure the camp is safe. That's the only real job around here, Lori, keeping people alive. I don't need you to tell me to come down and play house with you."  
Lori opened her mouth, about to retort, but no words came. She turned away, pressing the tips of her dainty fingers to her forehead. "Fine, forget I said anything," she mumbled, blinking back tears, before walking away. Andrea watched her depart, smirking triumphantly on top of her throne.  
Lori was about to go back to the house to help Patricia cook dinner, when she heard some commotion coming from the direction of the barn. Lori remembered with disdain the sight of the dozens of corpses that had littered the ground just a few days back. Shane, in a mad fit of anger and despair, had killed the Greene family's undead loved ones, along with Carol's daughter, Sophia. The sight had been gruesome to behold, but it meant that the noise couldn't be of walker origin.  
Perhaps, thought Lori, it was the young man that Rick had brought back from town. She couldn't remember his name, nor did she want to; he was dangerous, and it was probably best for her to keep her distance before he inevitably died. Nevertheless, she decided it was probably a good idea to check on him, seeing as all of the men were out.  
She rounded the corner and pressed her ear against the barn door. The noise seemed to have stopped. She yelled, "What's going on?"  
There was no response. She thought about opening the door and peering inside, but there was a padlock across the handles. Rick probably had the key; he could check when he got back. The shuffling had stopped, anyway.  
She turned around and let out a gasp of surprise. Shane was standing right behind her, his face a bloody mess as usual, staring at her with a mixture of rage and something else.  
"Shane," she said breathlessly.  
"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "You shouldn't be wandering around; it could be dangerous!"  
"I should be asking you the same thing!" she snapped. "Shouldn't you be with Rick and the others?"  
Shane scratched the back of his head and shifted side to side; he looked uncomfortable. "Rick told me to come back and check on Randall," he said sheepishly. "Andrea thinks she can handle things, but we all know better. Rick just wanted me to make sure everything is alright."  
"Why would he send you?" Lori asked suspiciously. "He doesn't trust you any more. Since he... found out about us."  
Shane gaped at Lori. "Rick doesn't care about you," he muttered.  
Lori huffed. "He's my husband," she said angrily. "And I don't know what you're up to, but I don't like it." She stormed away from the barn, leaving Shane dumbstruck. He stared at her as she left. She thought he was going to say something, or come after her, but thankfully, he stayed put, and continued checking on the barn.  
Lori was fed up with Shane. Her relationship with him had been a mistake, during the darkest time in her life. When she had thought Rick was dead... she didn't want to go back to that place again. Shane had saved her and Carl, and brought them to the camp where they'd found the others. They had trusted him, and Lori had let that trust go too far. Telling Rick about it had been the worst experience in this whole ordeal; she couldn't bear to think about the pained, heartbroken look on his face. And now, Shane wouldn't leave her alone. He had gotten this crazy idea in his head that he belonged in her family, and that Rick was in the way. Recently, he had taken to sneaking around camp, taking matters into his own hands. Lori worried that something dangerous was about to happen, and Shane would be in the middle of it.  
Rick and Carl didn't come home until late in the afternoon. Lori had returned to her household chores, finished cooking supper, and had tried to push the encounter with Shane out of her mind. She hadn't seen him for the rest of the afternoon, which was a relief. By the time Rick returned, she considered herself to be in rather a good mood. She was cleaning dishes at the well.

"How was your day?" Rick asked. He came up behind her and wrapped his hands around her waist, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

"You know how it is here," Lori mumbled. "Every day is the same. Same people, same place, same chores. Nothing important ever gets done."  
"What you're doing is important," Rick assured her earnestly, gazing into her dreary, tired, lifeless brown eyes. "You're trying to keep some sense of normalcy around here. We're all grateful." He kissed the top of her brow gently.  
Lori thought of Andrea, who was still sitting on top of the RV. She, for one, didn't appreciate what Lori did, and neither did Shane. Tears sprung to Lori's eyes. They couldn't understand how vital her job was, especially to the children who had to grow up in this godforsaken world.  
"What is it?" Rick asked, drawing her into his arms. "Is it Shane again?"  
Lori looked up at him. "How did you know?" she asked.  
"He left during shooting practice today," Rick said, his intense eyes ablaze with anger. "I don't know what he's been up to, but I couldn't stop him without starting a fight. He didn't talk to you, did he?"  
"No," Lori lied. "I haven't seen him all afternoon." It was partially true. Rick held her, and for a moment she forgot her sadness. The rest of the miserable, painful world disappeared. When she was wrapped in his strong arms, it was only the two of them, happy in their little corner of the farm, of the whole twisted country.  
Shane didn't show up for dinner, but no one took particular notice. He had taken to disappearing for hours on end. Lori didn't really care what he was doing, as long as it meant he wasn't harassing her and her son. Only Andrea, who sat by herself on the RV since Dale's death, looked around as if wondering when he would return.  
The mood at dinner was stubborn and hostile. The Greene family elected to dine in their home, and Rick's group had dwindled in numbers since they'd arrived on the farm. They sat huddled against the cold around the fire, sipping the thin soup that Lori had prepared. Rick had his arm around her, and Carl was sitting on his other side, keeping close for warmth.  
Suddenly, Andrea stood up. The whole group turned to look at her. She seemed to be staring off at something in the distance.  
"What is it?" Rick asked, jumping to his feet and grabbing a hatchet that lay near the pile of firewood. "A walker?"  
"No..." said Andrea. "It looks like someone's running." Lori seriously doubted her judgement, given the time she shot at Daryl. She sprang to her feet and peered at the spot where Andrea was pointing.  
"It's Shane," she said quietly. Indeed, he was running back to the camp from the edge of the forest. From this distance, he looked mostly uninjured, but it was impossible to tell; he could have a scratch or bite and Lori wouldn't be able to tell.  
"Don't shoot!" shouted Rick.  
Shane approached; there was no sign of walkers pursuing him. Lori noticed that his nose was broken, typical of Shane, and his face was covered in fresh blood. His clothes were ripped, but he didn't have any bites.  
"What's going on, brother?" Rick demanded.  
"It's Randall," Shane gasped, gripping Rick's shoulder for support. "He's escaped."  
Rick's face went pale. "Everyone in the house!" he shouted. Lori grabbed Carl and ran to the door, along with Carol and T-Dog. Andrea put up a fight, but she eventually returned to safety, leaving Glenn, Daryl, Rick, and Shane to scour the woods for the prisoner.  
Herschel and Maggie were waiting for them at the door.  
"We heard noises," Maggie said. "What's going on?"  
"Randall's escaped," Lori replied breathlessly. "Rick, Shane and some others have gone after him. Until they find him, it's not safe outside. I hope you understand."  
Maggie nodded curtly, ushering the small group inside. She paused for a moment on the doorstep, looking into the distance at the woods. Lori didn't mention anything about Glenn, but she could tell Maggie was distressed. She couldn't blame her; Lori couldn't count how many times she'd had to wait for Rick as he went on his dangerous outings. She understood that he was the group's leader, but sometimes she wished he would think about her for once. Carl went upstairs to watch Rick leave through the attic window, and Patricia started a kettle for tea, in an attempt to lighten the mood.  
The atmosphere in the house was tense. No one spoke much. Even Andrea was silent, a rare occurrence as she could barely keep her mouth shut at the best of times. Patricia brought the tea out, but Lori only took a few sips. Her hands were trembling. She knew she should be used to Rick leaving, but she was worried for him every time. It seemed like she had spent too little time with him before he had to risk his life again.  
As the evening went on, Lori realized that she hadn't seen Carl for a while. She assumed he was still in the attic, but when she went to check on him, the room was empty. She panicked. He hadn't come down to the living room, either. She ran back down the stairs.  
"Has anyone seen Carl?" she exclaimed.  
The people in the room, arising from their depressing stupor, looked at Lori, not saying anything.  
"Not since he went upstairs," Andrea said finally, breaking the silence.  
"He's not..." Lori started. She paled. "You don't think he snuck out? Oh God, he probably followed Rick!"  
Lori burst through the front door, all thoughts gone except fear for her son. Carol stood up quickly, trying to stop her.  
"It's too dangerous!" she protested, grabbing Lori's arm. "If you go out there, you could be killed!"  
"My son is out there this very moment!" Lori shouted back. "My son, Carol!"  
Carol shrunk away, and Lori broke free, running down the steps. She vaguely heard Andrea casually say, "Let her go. If she's stupid enough to follow Rick, that's her problem."  
Lori ran across the field blindly, realizing too late that she hadn't taken a flashlight or a gun. Her only thought was of Carl. She was used to Rick risking his life, but she couldn't bear to think that way about her precious son. It was her fault for letting him learn to shoot, making him believe that he could handle himself in the wilderness. But when faced with a Walker, in all of its undead glory, she didn't know if Carl would be able to shoot.  
Lori saw two beams of light emerging from the forest. They had to be coming from flashlights, but there were only two. Could that mean that there had already been deaths? A picture formed in her mind - a lone walker, sneaking up on the group from behind, one bite, a gunshot, blood and a cowboy hat - no, she pushed the image out of her head.  
She was so caught up in her thoughts she almost didn't notice the other figure, small and without a light, walking slowly but resolutely toward the forest. Carl, alive and unhurt. She ran to her son, easily catching up to him. She grabbed him and enveloped him in a restraining embrace.  
"Mom?" Carl exclaimed.  
"Carl, don't you ever -"  
"Mom, what are you doing?" Carl asked angrily. "I'm going to help Dad."  
"You're too young -"  
Lori's voice was drowned out by shouting. Still holding on to Carl, she turned to look at the two men who had come out of the forest. Both were covered in blood, dirt, and sweat, their clothing dirty and Rick. Lori gasped as she recognized Rick, and standing opposite him, his face reddening as he yelled furiously, Shane.  
"Yes, I helped Randall escape!" was the first thing Lori heard. Both she and Carl froze, staying utterly still and listening to the bellowing voices. Neither Rick nor Shane had noticed them.  
"And this was how you were going to do it," surmised Rick. His voice was quieter, calm and resolute compared to Shane's insane ramblings. "You planned this all, all of this to kill me."  
"No - yes," Shane admitted. Quick as lightning, he drew his gun and pointed it at Rick's forehead. "Yes," he repeated, not loudly, just firm.  
"I have a wife," Rick said, his voice cracking. "I have Lori - and Carl. I have a son. You would do that to them?"  
"They don't need you!" shouted Shane. "I was there when this all started. I got them to Atlanta. I saved them! It was me! I'm better for them than you ever were!"  
"I - I have an unborn child -"  
"It's mine! She's mine! All I need is for you to be out of the picture!"  
Rick was close to the gunpoint now. He didn't have any weapon raised. "There's no stopping you now," he muttered. "But this is on you. You're killing me, unarmed, innocent." To prove his point, he reached to his holster and withdrew his gun, slowly lowering it to the ground.  
Lori gasped, letting go of Carl and running to Rick, but what happened was quicker than she had the time to appreciate. There was a gunshot, but it was Shane, not Rick, lying on the ground, bleeding. She slowed her pace and saw Rick withdraw a knife from Shane's chest, glistening wickedly with dark red blood. There were tears flowing down her husband's face as he stepped away from the grisly sight. He turned, and stopped as he saw Lori.  
"I can explain," he began.  
Lori started to cry too. "You don't have to," she said. She ran to him and threw herself into his arms, both of them sobbing. Carl was there, too. They folded him into their embrace and they were all crying, despairing but selfishly happy. Lori didn't know how long they stood there, but they didn't leave until they were done, and all of their pain had washed away.  
They were about to turn back when Lori looked one last time at Shane's lifeless body. But when she did, it had disappeared.


	2. Chapter 1: Burn it to the Ground

Lori didn't have didn't time to investigate, because lo and behold, dark shapes had arisen from the deep woods and a cacophony of moans and wails rose up from the forest. Rick grabbed her arm and she was forced to look away. She didn't know if her eyes had played tricks on her, or if Shane really was gone.

"Run!" yelled Rick. He tugged Carl and Lori along as they sprinted across the grassy field. They didn't have time to look back, only to press forward. The breath of the rotting corpses filled the air with a noxious stench. Lori could feel them drawing closer; she herself was near to her doom.

She tried to hold tight to the hands of her beloved husband and son, but they slipped slowly out of her grip. She was forced to let go, but Rick and Carl didn't seem to notice. She was happy; if she would fall behind, at least her family would be out of harm's way. If only they escaped, and she failed, she would still have hope in the rising generation, a hope that her loved ones could live on and find some semblance of peace.

Rick and Carl drew further into the distance. Lori swore she felt a brush of cold fingers on her back, only pushing her to run faster. If they made it to the house, they could warn the others, and maybe their group could get off of the farm fast enough, and no one would get hurt. She thought, briefly, of Shane. He would never get out. He was already hurt more than anyone could stand. She was just grateful that he hadn't been bitten, that hopefully he could rest in peace and not have to live on as an insane, sadistic pawn of some force Lori couldn't explain. There was only a few more yards ahead of her; Rick and Carl had already reached the barn.

Suddenly, Lori felt her foot catch. She tripped over something solid, landing face first in the grass, skidding forward due to the momentum. She gasped, panicking to get up before the walkers caught her. Too late, she felt a clammy, clawed hand latch on her left ankle. She let out a scream, scrambling onto her back. There was a walker clinging on to her, trying to get a bite out of her leg. She frantically kicked at its rotten, putrid skull, forcing it back enough that she managed to release herself from its grip - for the moment.

She stood up, running toward the barn. Her vision was blurred by oncoming walkers in every direction. She couldn't see Rick and Carl anymore; she dimly heard gunshots in the background, but adrenaline kept her focused on her situation. She grabbed the knife she kept in her belt, using it to make her way as best she could through the swarm of walkers, twisting this way and that to avoid their gnashing mouths and scratching nails.

"Rick!" she screamed desperately. "Rick!"

She thought she heard something in response, but the noise was too faint under the din of the walker's rasps and gurgles. There were too many of them. With walkers on every side, Lori couldn't see the house, or the barn, or anyone. She felt her demise pressing around her. She briefly glanced to the sky, as if in some vain prayer that salvation would come, yet there was nothing but a faint wisp of smoke, rising dejectedly into the air.

Her strength failed, and she fell to the ground once more. She lay there, like a limp doll, shielding her eyes as she awaited her inevitable demise. Instead of the shooting pain of teeth ripping into her flesh, however, Lori felt the embrace of cold, strong arms as she was lifted off of the ground. Before she knew it, she was pulled into someone's chest. _Rick_. He must have noticed she was missing. She nuzzled into his chest, as her consciousness gave in.

She woke up in the passenger seat of a car, dazed. She didn't feel like much time had passed; the sky was still dark and filled with smoke, and the car wasn't moving. She pressed a hand to her temple, trying to remember what had happened just before she passed out. Something about Rick.

There was a loud gunshot near the driver's door, and then T-Dog bolted into the vehicle. He slammed the door shut behind him and leaned on the gas before he even glanced around. Lori shrieked as a grisly, undead face pressed up against her window in a gruesome grimace. T-Dog looked at her, stunned.

"Where'd you come from?" he shouted, bewildered.

"I - I don't know," Lori admitted. She was bolt upright in her seat now, shaking with adrenaline after finding herself surrounded by yet more undead. They were all around the car now; T-Dog was driving right through the horde as they escaped.

Then, it hit her. "Where's Rick?" she asked, panic-stricken. "Did you leave him back there?"

"Rick?" T-Dog asked. "No, man, I haven't seen Rick since he left with Shane."

"But then..." Lori started. _Who brought me here?_ she finished in her thoughts, but she decided against asking T-Dog. "What about everyone else?" she questioned instead.

"We ran from the house as soon as we saw the herd," T-Dog explained. A walker ran straight into the car, and he had to swerve as the windshield was splattered with blood and guts. He flicked on the wipers, and that helped a bit, but they were still mostly blind as he tried to make it to the highway. "Daryl and Glenn tried to take them out, but there's just too many. We had to leave."

"What about the others?" Lori gasped. "Who made it out?"

"I don't know," T-Dog admitted. "I think I saw Glenn driving away with Herschel and his daughters - I think Andrea went down..."

"What about Rick? Carl?" Lori exclaimed. "Where are they? I need to go back for them!" She made to open the door handle.

T-Dog grabbed her hand. "Woah, there," he said. "What'cha doing? You want to get us both killed?"

"They're my family!" Lori protested.

"They'll be fine," T-Dog told her, keeping a restraining yet comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry now, I'll keep you safe." He smiled reassuringly, winking. Lori didn't even brush him off; she needed the succor.

Tears started to run down Lori's cheeks as she peered anxiously out of the blood-stained windows. The barn was completely in flames; bits and pieces of shingles and wood were falling off in blackened shards. Walkers were everywhere; some even making their way into the boarded-up farmhouse that Lori dearly hoped was deserted. She couldn't see any other cars; right now, all she knew was that she and T-Dog had made it out alive. She let her grief out in small, quiet sobs, as the car finally pulled onto the highway and she made her way into what could become a new chapter in her life.


End file.
